Growing Up: Father's Day
by hunnyfresh
Summary: Growing Up Series: Regina introduces Henry to his grandfather when he comes home with a Father's Day gift.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time or any recognizable characters. **

**AN: Happy Father's Day! Whether you have your father, uncle, grandfather, older brother, or don't have any at all, you are all still awesome, and we can all squeal over Henry's cuteness.**

* * *

Regina was waiting on the playground field waiting for the school bell to ring to signal the end of the day. She nodded cordially to the parents who had unfortunately made eye contact with her and counted down the seconds for three o'clock. Right on time, a horde of school children came racing out, and upon spotting her five-year old son exiting from the kindergarten pen, Regina beamed.

Her smile faltered when she realized Henry wasn't sprinting towards her as he usually did, a giant smile adorning his slightly chubby face just before he launched himself into her waiting arms. On this particular Friday afternoon, the small boy dawdled behind the rest of his classmates, a serious contemplative look etching his face.

Upon seeing it, Regina immediately made a mental note to ask his insufferable teacher why her son was upset and why she didn't have the common sense to call his mother about it. She didn't bother to wait for him and moved to meet him halfway across the field where he simply raised his arms to be picked up when she was in front of him. Hoisting him into her arms, she crossed the playground and settled him into his booster seat of their car.

The drive was uncharacteristically quiet. The boy was normally well-tempered and not overly energetic, but even this bout of silence gave the mother some pause.

"What did you do in school today, Henry?" Regina attempted to weasel information out of her son.

"We made arts and crafts," he answered playing with an action figure in his lap.

"That sounds exciting," she smiled warmly into the rear view making eye contact with him. "And you managed to keep your clothes clean this time. What sort of crafts did you make?"

"A tie."

"Will you wear it for me?"

"It's not for me," the boy answered.

Regina turned onto Main Street and turned into the Town Hall parking lot. "Then who is it for?"

She drove into her parking spot and cut off the ignition before turning to face her son.

Henry leaned over her booster to dig into his backpack and pulled out an outrageously large construction paper made tie that was fairly plain aside from the scribbles and colours that were part of the design. "It's for my dad."

Regina's eyes widened and she breathed out heavily. In the five years that she had had Henry, he had not once questioned where his father was. He didn't even know he was adopted, and if Regina had anything to say about it, he'd never find out. She took the proffered craft, and despite the event it was made for, she cracked a smile at the choppy letters across the neck of the tie saying 'Happy Father's Day!'.

"The other kids drew sports and cards on theirs 'cause their daddies like that," Henry said almost ashamed. He waited a few seconds before glancing up at his mother bashfully. "What does mine like?"

Regina sighed and handed back the gift. How was she going to approach this?

"Henry," she started out slowly, reaching over to place her hand over his. "Henry, sometimes children don't have fathers. Sometimes they don't have mothers. Sometimes they don't have either. Families are a funny thing, but it doesn't matter if you have one parent or the other, just as long as you have someone in your life who will love and care for you and do everything in their power to make you happy. Do you understand?"

"I have a family," he nodded his understanding.

Regina smiled widely, patting down his unruly hair before leaving her palm on his cheek. "You have a mother who loves you. And I have the best son in the whole entire galaxy." She grinned pointedly at his giggle. "I don't think we need anyone else yet, do you?"

He shook his head.

Regina smiled and moved out of the car and opened the backdoor to free her son from his booster. She held his hand and his bag in her free hand and allowed him to swing their arms back and forth. By the time they were back in her office and Henry was stationed at his miniature mayoral desk in the corner, he sat down on his mini plastic throne and looked at the tie still clutched in his hand.

"What do I do with this?"

Regina looked over to him from her own desk and was on the verge of telling him to trash it when a sudden inspiration hit. She walked over to him and crouched by his desk holding up the tie between the two of them. "Did I ever tell you about your grandfather?"

He shook his head.

"You were named after him." She tapped his nose for emphasis. "Henry Mills."

"His name is Henry too?" He asked awestruck.

She nodded. "He was the most loving and kindest man I ever knew. He loved books. He had thousands of them and would read to me every night."

"Just like me and you."

"Just like that," she confirmed with a smile. "When I was a little girl about your age, he would play music and twirl me on his toes, dancing all around the room."

Henry smiled at the image. "Can we go see him?"

Regina gave a sad smile. "He's passed away, Henry. But we can go visit him if you'd like."

The boy nodded and immediately shot up from his desk to grab his pack of crayons from his backpack. Regina placed a kiss on top of his head as he busied himself with the renovations of his imaginary town before returning to her own desk.

* * *

As soon as she was finished work for the day, true to her word, Regina introduced Henry to her father. She clutched the boy's hand tightly as they walked through the cemetery and stopped short just before the family mausoleum. She glanced down and offered him an encouraging smile before leading him up the steps and into the structure.

"Henry," she said holding him on her hip to get a better view of the casket, "this is your grandfather, Henry."

"Hi," he whispered shyly.

Regina kissed his cheek before placing the flowers she had bought before arriving onto his grave. "Daddy," she whispered ever so quietly. "This is my son."

The silence stretched on inside the tomb with the only sound being one lone sniffle from the brunette mother. Clearing her throat, Regina moved to place Henry back on the ground, but the little boy was having none of it as he shifted his backpack to his front and pulled out his Father's Day craft. No longer was it plain, but the tie sported pictures of books, music notes, and superheroes. He leaned over and placed the tie at the top of the casket above his mother's flowers.

"Happy Father's Day, Grandpa," Henry said leaving his hand on top of the grave for a moment before pulling back into his mother. He turned to her with hopeful eyes. "Do you think he likes it?"

Regina's eyes glistened with moisture before she pulled Henry into a tight hug, kissing his hair and nuzzling into his neck. "He loves it."


End file.
